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Monday, January 23, 2017

The Remnant Blog Tour

Religion is dangerous. On September 11, 2001, just under 3000 died in the US from an Al Qaeda attack (unless you believe in conspiracy theories, but that's for another blog.) The Spanish Inquisition destroyed over 3,000 lives. Yet, both of these death tolls are dwarfed by the Crusades in which 1.7 million perished.

Granted, these are examples of religious extremism, but
would we be safer without religion in general? In William Michael Davidson’s The
Remnant, religion isn’t merely absent, it’s forbidden. Anyone caught
praying is captured by an extractor, like Colton Pierce, who works for the the Center
for Theological Control or the CTC. If caught, the criminally religious "Aberrant" is hauled off to an
island for the rest of their lives.

But keeping the theologically ill fed and housed in this
manner is expensive, so why not save money by putting them out of their misery?
This sounds like a swell idea to Colton until his son is caught praying.

I don’t want to ruin the twists and turns with spoilers, but the action fires up as Colton must choose between his position as top dog of the CTC and
his child. The way the finale plays out has excellent tension. It’s also fun to
watch the transformation of Colton from an egotistical, artless, emotionless
robot into a caring, self-doubting, anguished mess who realizes strength is not
always found in one’s muscles.

Now let’s go a little more in depth with some questions for the author, William Michael Davidson:

1. In the
beginning, Colton is an overbearing blowhard—an unlikeable
character whose treatment of people made me cringe. On
one hand, kudos for creating someone so odiously behaved. On the other, do you
think it’s a risk to start with an unlikeable character and have him your focus
for the first part of the book? Do you think the general reader will stick with
the story?

Funny you ask, because before I
was offered a deal with Dancing Lemur Press an agent I know wouldn’t accept the
book because she hated Colton’s character.Is it risky?Maybe.But that’s who Colton is, and I don’t feel
that I should change who he is.I think
the reader is going to have to stick around for a little bit to see him change,
but that’s okay.To be honest, he was
great fun to write.The best characters
are dynamic characters and I think a reader will find that with Colton.

2. The name of the organization that
hunts and captures the theologically ill goes by the acronym CTC, which is
pretty close to CDC. Coincidence or not?

No coincidence.In a post-theological world, I wouldn’t be
surprised at all if an organization like that was established.Just like the CDC helps society stay safe
from diseases, I’m sure that if we ever did enter the kind of world within the
book, the CTC might exist.In some ways,
the future the book suggests seems very, very far off and unrealistic.Yet, when I read the news, it doesn’t seem
very far off at all.I just read an
article the other day about how quoting the Bible can be seen as Hate
Speech.So I think the world within the
book is troubling and while it is science fiction and seems very imaginative,
it is very close to some of the things that are going on in the world today.

3. In The Remnant, there seems to be a connection between creativity and
the “theologically ill” or those who pray. For example, Marty, Colton’s son, is
interested in fine arts. Selma, Colton’s love interest, goes to see a
Shakespeare play. Colton had no understanding or appreciation of anything close
to art. Yet as his character evolves, he does learn to acknowledge the value of
creativity. What was your purpose for this connection in regards to this book?

To be honest, I don’t know if that
occurred to me. But I have certainly
found that true in my life. I didn’t
become a Christian until I was in my early twenties and I was deathly terrified
of being converted because it would change my writing. Ironically, in the end, I think it gave my
writing more purpose. God loves
creativity. He created it! So I think the novel does imply that by
having your eyes spiritually opened, you can appreciate things for what they
truly are and the full beauty they possess.

Thank you, William, for those fascinating answers! Now on to the details:

Colton
Pierce apprehends Abberants—those who display symptoms of faith—and quarantines
them on a remote island to ensure public safety. Years prior, the
government released a genetically-engineered super flu that destroyed the genes
believed to be the biological source of spiritual experience in an effort to
rid the world of terrorism. As an extractor with the Center
for Theological Control, Colton is dedicated to the cause.

But
Colton's steadfast commitment is challenged when he learns his own son has been
targeted for extraction. An underground militia, the Remnant, agrees
to help Colton save his son in exchange for his assistance with their plan to
free the Aberrants on the island.

Colton
is faced with the most important decision of his life. Remain faithful to
the CTC? Or give up everything to save his son?

The Remnant giveaway: This is a
tour-wide giveaway for two (2) print copies that are available to those
living in the U.S. only and one (1) eBook copy available international. The
giveaway will end at 12 a.m. (EST) on Sunday, Feb. 26. You can
enter to win at each stop of the tour.

Thanks
for stopping by today. Be sure to visit the other blogs on the tour (see below) for more
chances to win.

About the Author:William Michael
Davidson lives in Long Beach, California with his wife and two daughters. A
believer that "good living produces good writing," Davidson writes
early in the morning so he can get outside, exercise, spend time with people,
and experience as much as possible.

A writer
of speculative fiction, he enjoys stories that deal with humanity's
inherent need for redemption.

Religion seems to be the motivating factor behind so much violence and yet it is also the thing that should prevent violence. The Remnant does pose some interesting questions about our humanity and religion.

Fascinating interview, and compelling storyline. I believe religion lives inside us and as long as we nurture the spirit, it survives no matter what happens around us. It's not what we believe (e.g. the church we attend), it's how we believe, in other words, the way we move through this world.

Congrats, William! Religion does seem to be behind some of the worst crimes in its most extreme forms, but I often think if it's not necessarily religion's fault. Those people would probably try to find something else to justify their crimes if they didn't have religion. Great interview!

Amen to that. God does love creativity, and he expects us to use ours. =) Honestly, there have been more battles over religion...but it's also the one thing that really holds societies together. When religion goes by the wayside, the society crashes because there's no longer a self regulating system to govern people's actions. Religion teaches people to value something besides themselves--usually family. Any good thing can be turned to evil.

I will do everything in my power to visit commenter's blogs unless I've been abducted by aliens or my children get sick. (If my children get abducted by aliens, I will be very busy, of course, catching up on my sleep.)